Despite Daytona pole, smart money isn't on Patrick

20 drivers have better odds than her 40-1 and in 54-years of race only 9 have won from pole

February 19, 2013|By George Diaz, Tribune newspapers

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A few fun facts to ponder as we prepare for the Daytona 500 … aka the Danica 500.

Danica Patrick became NASCAR's first female Cup pole winner since the organization's origins in 1949, a span of 2,355 races.

The smart money is not on Danica to win the Daytona 500: The Las Vegas Hotel's Super Book says that 20 other drivers in the 43-car field have better odds of winning the race than Patrick, who rolls in at 40-1.

Patrick will be making her first full-time run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit after making 10 starts in Sprint Cup events a year ago. She struggled quite a bit, averaging a 28th-place finish without any Top 10s.

Patrick's presence at Daytona isn't unprecedented for a woman. The best start for a woman in the Daytona 500 was Janet Guthrie's 18th in 1980 when she finished 11th.

Patrick raced in the Daytona 500 last year and finished 38th after her car was wrecked during a crash on the second-lap.

The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole position was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Overall, only nine drivers have won the race from the pole in the 54-year history of the race.

Quotable: "She comes into this with racing background, with a tremendous amount of exposure, momentum, just popularity that we've never seen before, especially from a female driver.

"For her to then follow that up or start the season off with a pole, it's huge. It's big. Surprised you're even talking to me right now, right? I'm glad I didn't win the pole. We would have messed that story all up." — Jeff Gordon, who will start second, on the outside pole position on Sunday.

"Launching our Spanish-language Twitter account is a natural step as we continue to build meaningful relationships within the Hispanic community," track president Matthew Becherer said in a statement.

Car of Yesterday: Here's a last word on the Car of Tomorrow, labeled a clunker from its first race when Kyle Busch made it to victory lane in 2007: "I think (NASCAR leader Brian) France finally admitted that there were some mistakes made in the design process. It makes me feel a little bit better. I was vocal about it just because it was not a race car. It was not what we needed to go to the race track with and race with. Whether that was interpreted wrong from the beginning or throughout time, it now has evolved into this Gen-6 race car, which I think looks amazing."